This article is in our staff magazine and I thought the word-lovers among us would appreciate it.

Here is a short list of well-known phrases that are often repeated inaccurately or with with a key word misspelled. (Have you come across any others? Are there differences between countries?)

1. Hunger Pangs Although hunger may indeed cause discomfort, there’s no such thing as a ‘hunger pain’. Hunger pangs, on the other hand, are the gnawing, severe muscle contractions that signal it’s time for dinner.

2. Whet Your Appetite You might want to satisfy those hunger pangs with a tasty beverage, but ‘wetting your appetite’ is incorrect. To whet one’s appetite means to sharpen it, such as using a whetstone to sharpen or hone a knife.

3. For All Intents and Purposes Not ‘all intensive purposes’, no matter how thorough those purposes might be.

4. Couldn’t Care Less You care not one little bit, making a lesser level of caring impossible; whereas if you ‘could care less’, you do care at least a little bit, which is the opposite of the point you’re making.

5. Pique My Curiosity To pique means to prick or stimulate, which is not to be confused with the homonyms peak (meaning apex) or peek (meaning glimpse).

6. With Bated Breath ‘Bated’ is a shortened form of ‘abated’, meaning held off or postponed. I would only bait my breath if I thought eating tuna then breathing out would lure in a cat.

7. Sleight of Hand Although magicians might have slight hands with nimble and slender fingers, their art is called ‘sleight of hand’, which means deceit or dexterity.

8. Cut Your Coat According to Your Cloth Sure you can just cut your cloth, but wouldn’t you rather make something out of the material?

9. Proof of the Pudding is in the Eating This is often shortened to proof of the pudding which, while still correct, is annoyingly non-specific.

10. Hold the Fort You do not ‘hold down the fort’ unless the fort is inflatable and it’s a windy day.

11. Champing at the Bit If you don’t stop ‘chomping at the bit’ you’ll chew right through it – whereas champing means you’re impatient due to delay or restraint.

12. Change of Tack While a socially awkward person might have a ‘change of tact', a person who tries a new approach will ‘change their tack’ (just like a yachtie does when sailing). Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..." Dwarves: "Pretty rings..." Men: "Pretty rings..." Sauron: "Mine's better."

"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded b*****d with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.